Hero Behind the Mask
by Lakeshine
Summary: The other two nod and Tigress takes off immediately. Robin goes to do the same, but Batgirl's hand catches him before he can. "He'll be okay Robin. He always is." "I know Batgirl, but one of these times that isn't going to be enough."


**_Ello Young Justice fans~! This is Lakeshine here, risen from the dead! With the most lovely little fanfiction of course, I do hope you all enjoy. Thanks for reading~_**

 ** _Disclaimer- Ya'll would know if I owned Young Justice and her darling characters as they would still be on air and making the TV worth watching for that half an hour. (I'm still very sad and bitter)._**

 ** _Hero Behind the Mask_**

"Nightwing! Nightwing! Where are you?" Batgirl shouts in the communicator as her small team perches at the boundary of Blüdhaven. "Arg! Still no luck. Did you manage to get a lock on his location yet Robin?" The brightly costumed boy at her side shakes his head with a frown, the bright blue glow of the hologram dissipating a moment later.

"Still nothing Batgirl. I can't even close in on where the distress signal originated." He replies, the frustration clear in his voice.

"Seriously?! The first contact he's had with us in months, and it's a half baked distress call. That idiot better be okay." Tigress growls from Batgirl's other side, her angry tone failing to hide her worry from her two teammates.

"Doesn't matter. We'll just have to do it the old fashioned way." Batgirl replies, pulling up her own holomap and typing furiously on her wrist computer. Seconds later half a dozen red dots sprout up all over the blue screen. "Alright these are the places where the police have reported suspicious activity since Nightwing called. These are where we'll check first. Robin you take these two here." She orders, pointing to two of the points in the western part of Blüdhaven. "Tigress you take these, and I'll take the last two. If anyone finds anything radio in the others immediately." The other two nod and Tigress takes off immediately. Robin goes to do the same, but Batgirl's hand catches him before he can. "He'll be okay Robin. He always is."

"I know Batgirl, but one of these times that isn't going to be enough." The younger replies seriously as Batgirl releases him, leaping off the building and swinging to the next seamlessly without waiting for a response. His redheaded partner only watches for a moment before mimicking his movements, sailing across the rooftops like a professional. It isn't long until she reaches her first location, police cars already surrounding the building. Batgirl pauses on one of the neighboring buildings, pulling out her binoculars and quickly setting them to her eyes to peer into the building. After a few minutes she slips the device back into her utility belt, taking off across the rooftops once more.

"Have either of you had any luck so far?" She questions, setting her finger to ear as she swung towards her next location.

"Neither of my locations showed any sign of him." Is Tigress's reply.

"I'm nearly at my second location now, but no luck so far. What about you Batgirl?"

"There was nothing at the first spot I'm almost at my…" The redhead cuts off for a moment, her body stopping as well.

"Batgirl come in! What is it?" Robin shouts, snapping the girl out of her daze. Her head actually shakes as if that would clear the image.

"Nothing, continue to your final location. Tigress, rendezvous with him. If you guys don't find anything inspect the rest of the city. Maybe the police missed something. Batgirl out." With that the girl doesn't waste a second more, launching her grappling hook and swinging down to street level, pausing before the half demolished building that had froze her in the first place. "Damn it Dick, you better not be in here." She whispers to herself before charging into the structurally compromised building.

The bat themed hero makes quick rounds through the building, the ball of anxiety in her stomach slowly dissipating as each turns up empty. She was almost finished when she finally saw it, the ball instantly changing from anxiety to ice. "Nightwing!" She sprints over to the hint, a single gloved hand sticking out from under a pile of rubble. "Robin, Tigress come in!" Static meets the call, the girl letting out a frustrated growl as she instead begins to dig out the other hero, slowly unearthing his blood covered upper torso. "Nightwing wake up!" She shouts, setting her hand on his shoulder. The male hero groans, the whites of his mask slowly opening.

"Babs…?"

"Shush Birdbrain. No names on the job remember?" Batgirl tries to tease, slowly removing her hand, cringing at the blood that covered it. "Now, why don't you tell me what the hell happened?" At that Nightwing lets out a weak, mirthless laugh that was soon replaced by pained coughing, pulling a wince from the red headed heroine kneeling beside him. It takes him a few moments before regains his breath, chest rising and falling at an increased rate.

"I-it was a rookie mistake. I was lured here, missed the trip wire."

"Damn it Nightwing, you're such an idiot."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"You're as stupid as the Flashes sometimes."

"Ouch, now that one hurts BG."

"Yeah, I'll bet it does." She replies, voice cracking slightly as he yelps in pain when her hand simply brushes his chest. "You really busted yourself up this time didn't you Nightwing." He coughs in response, taking a few moments before giving her a tired smile, teeth stained red with blood.

"You could say that again Babs." He murmurs in reply, further plummeting the red headed girl's spirits as she sets a gentle hand to his beaten one.

"Just stay here a minute okay? I'm going to call in some backup." A look of horror flashes across his face as she moves to get up, broken fingers weakly catching hers.

"Please Babs don't. Stay."

"Nightwing I have to call them in. I can't get you out of here without help." She answers, carefully trying to tug her hand from his.

"Barbara please." She stops, heart breaking clean in two at the desperation in his voice.

"Fine," The redhead relents, other hand gently brushing his bangs from his face. "Just until I dig the rest of you out." He seems to accept this, not voicing further complaint as she begins to move the heavy slabs from his legs, acrobat strangely quiet despite the condition of the lower limb. An unreadable realization seems to flit across his face, though the female bat stubbornly ignored it, sliding the chunk off and falling into a silence beside the quiet hero. "Nightwing?"

"Take it off, Babs."

"What are you...?"

"The mask Barbara. Please take it off." He answers calmly, causing anger to flare up within his longtime partner's chest. "I don't want to die as Nightwing."

"You're not going to die, Grayson!" She shouts in response, rocketing to her feet.

"Barbara, I'm not making it out of this one." He says, voice never wavering from its calm, distant tone.

"Yes you are Dick! Damnit you're not allowed to give up on me!"

"Barbara, Babs please. I can't feel them." He pauses, emotion pushing its way past his calm facade, reminding the redhead of the young nine year old orphaned circus boy she had befriended all those years ago. "My legs." He chokes, voice cracking. She's frozen in shock for a second before she crumples beside him, the realization of the blow such a thing would do to the born and bred acrobat.

"Dick I- I'm so sorry."

"Please Babs. I-I just want to die as Dick Grayson. I don't want to be Nightwing, just this once." She finally concedes, bowing her head as tears begin to slip past her own mask. Slowly and carefully, with both hands, she slips blood slicked fingers under the corners of his mask. The slick material of her gloves struggles to find purchase for a moment, before she lifts the material revealing the same brilliant blue eyes she had become so accustomed to, filled to the brim with pain but bright as ever. "Thank you." He whispers, eyes already beginning to slip close as she clasps both of her hands around one of his. "I'll let you in on just one last little secret Babs." His voice was barely a breath, the redhead having to lean forward and strain to hear it. "I knew the odds were against it, but all I wanted. I needed to die as Dick Grayson. Not as a hero but as me."

"You are a hero Dick. Nightwing and Dick Grayson both." She replies, voice wavering as she fought back tears, each breath that her closest friend took wracking his chest.

"It means the world to hear you say that Babs. Thanks for everything." The ebony replies, a small smile slipping into his face as his eyes fully closed, chest moving in one last rattled movement. The girl shakes her head, releasing her hands from his with a choked cry, laying them crossed over his chest and setting her face to them.

"No Dick. It's I who should be thanking you." She whispers, laying that way with tears streaming down her face until her earlier companions finally find her, questions dying on their lips at the sight before them. No words were spoken between the three heroes, the three friends, as they try to keep themselves together, carefully moving the unresponsive body of the one that had linked them all together in the first place.

It took only a few days for a holomorial to be erected for the fallen hero, joining an ever growing gallery as Nightwing took his final place between the original Kid Flash and the second Robin. Many words were spoken at his funeral, a grossly over publicized event, filled with a throng of news reporters blind to the grief of the heroes. But a single speech stood out above the rest, delivered from a single redhead, blue eyes red and puffy as she was seen clearly for one of the first times in the broad light of day.

"The world may have known him as Nightwing, but he was always something more. He was a friend, a son, a brother and, above all, a hero, both in and out of his Nightwing persona. He may not have been a metahuman, but he didn't need powers to be a superhero, something he strove to pass on to everyone he met, including me and by extension each and everyone of you. So those of you who are here to truly celebrate the hero Nightwing was, try to do something nice to someone around out, stranger, friend, family, it doesn't matter. You may never know the difference it may make." With that she steps away from the podium, completely ignoring the bright flashes of the cameras as she joins the other two members of the Batfamily, slipping into the shadows as the echo of her words ring in the air.

 _ **I strongly dislike the ending but oh well, hopefully you guys all liked the rest. And anyone who is still interested in some of my older stories I promise I am still working on them, I have a plan, but I'm trying to not only update but to edit all of them and let me tell you that is far from easy so please be patient (I was in the mood for a deathfic so I wrote this out of my system... mostly) . Anywho any and all feedback is much loved so please feel free to drop me a line and some criticism on how I can improve in a lovely little**_

 _ **Review!**_

 _ **~Lakeshine**_


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